Doylestown native named Rhodes Scholar

By MICHAEL MACAGNONESTAFF WRITER

Friday

Nov 29, 2013 at 12:01 AM

A globe-trotting Doylestown native soon could head to England after being named a Rhodes Scholar.

Alexander Wang, who graduated from Central Bucks East and now studies at New York University’s Abu Dhabi campus, is one of two scholars from the Keystone State. Majoring in social research and public policy, Wang will be part of the inaugural class of NYU Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, according to the press release announcing the scholarships.

Already a Truman scholar, the senior has studied at NYU Shanghai, and done research and teaching at Princeton, Harvard and Columbia universities. He has primarily studied immigration and other social issues.

He also founded and edits a social science journal, founded a group that coordinates volunteer work in Abu Dhabi and devotes time to improving conditions for migrant workers there.

According to the Rhodes Trust, which assembled the list of 32 awardees, the students still need to be accepted to a program at one of Oxford’s colleges before the scholarships become official. Wang and the other 31 American awardees were selected from 857 who were nominated by 327 universities.